Starring: Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
A crazy, colourful anarchic film, Week End breaks the boundaries and has a great deal of fun doing it. It’s the story of a couple who are heading out into the countryside to get away from it all, but their progress is halted by a huge traffic jam, and nothing goes right. But to put the film that simply is quite misleading. It also takes in murder, infidelity, picnics and cannibalism, as well as an interesting use of intertitles that sometimes appear quite random.
The film is constantly making fun of everything that you would think should be taken seriously, and no one is safe from sudden death or accident. It’s a delightful film, which tries to show the fall of society and the way that everyone is so immune to others suffering. But it doesn’t even really take it’s own message too seriously.
One of the most notable things about this film is a ten minute tracking shot of a huge traffic jam and car pile up that ranges along the road and includes dead people, cars, boats, animals and picnickers.
Godard was a highly influential director, and this film playfully pushed boundaries in a way that feels so 60’s to me, and yet was a huge influence on films and film making practices. It’s a delight, in a dark, nonchalant and uncaring kind of way, and I rather liked it. It feels arty without being inaccessible.
See It If: you love your films to push boundaries or be a bit absurd, or if you have ever wondered if the world and society as we know it is coming to an end.
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